Fashion Is Getting Dangerously Close to the 2000s

Cropped pastel polos were the thing. We can probably thank Marissa Cooper for that.

You know what else was cool? Peasant skirts — low slung, white, eyelet peasant skirts that hit directly at the knee or fell all the way to the floor, and sometimes you’d wear it with a white ribbed tank. Or maybe you were more of a BP spaghetti-strap top kind of girl.

Either way you definitely had a short denim jacket that you paired with your velour sweatsuit bottoms on casual days and with your three-tiered miniskirts for parties. And belts. There were so many belts arbitrarily slung around hips that never once considered their predecessors were created to hold up pants.

If you were of the Taking Back Sunday persuasion, you relied instead on a diet of cargo pants and rubber bracelets, nostalgic cartoon references and black t-shirts with pop-tinged misanthropic statements (“I see dumb people”) in white writing.

It didn’t matter if you considered yourself Aberpreppy or Emo. Unlike the holy ’90s, there was no real sartorial divide when considering the nuances of cafeteria geopolitics — in the year 2000, everyone’s style was generally bad. It was as if an entire decade of clothing had deferred its acceptance to college and instead retreated into its parent’s basement, and what once had been cool finally started to weather, like a ’99 hangover turned chronic Millennium migraine.

Even the decade’s name sucked: “The 2000s.”

There was no ring to it.

I feel like I can say all of this because it was the first 10 years of my life where I was actually present for the outfit decision-making process. Those of us born around ’88 are always taking credit for the Blossom or Zach Morris references in our TBTS, but let’s be real. That was our parents’ beautiful insanity — they got dressed in the ’90s; we were just being dressed.

Meanwhile the 2000s were our responsibility. I knowingly spent my allowance at Hot Topic, admit to purchasing pseudo-punk bondage pants and a few years later, kitten heels. In 2005 I made multiple conscious decisions to layer different polo shirts over one another to coordinate with my flip flops, so like a little sister that no one else is allowed to talk shit about, regarding “the 2000s,” I can.

And I will. At least for a moment longer, because what this all boils down to is a plea: a plea to beg the designers of the upcoming Spring 2015 runways to pretend like 2000 – 2008 didn’t happen.

We know fashion loves nothing more than subculture nostalgia, and everyone has exhausted the ’20s flapper. Mod’s been done. So has punk. The hippie influence has become omnipresent. The ’80s have been usurped by Urban Outfitters, and the three ’90s ideals — grunge, Gap and minimalism — are all currently defining what it means to dress in 2014.

Which means we’re running out of decades.

We’ve even lapped some of the aforementioned twice.

The only untapped genre is whatever you call the years bookmarked by Lizzie McGuire/late Buffy/early True Blood/The O.C. It was a golden age for television but the dark age of clothing. So please, Miuccia. Karl. Phoebe. Nicolas. I beg you. Pretend it never happened. Redux the redux of the ’90s, for all I care. Bring back mullets and poodle skirts.

The nostalgia is REAL, and I definitely want it to remain a hazy past…I totally rocked a bright blue polo, three tiered yellow skirt and a gold belt – with a photo to prove it. It’s a modern day Jersey Shore except that I had my hair in butterfly clips, ewwww.

Jamie

OMG, butterfly clips.

http://adeliberateimagination.wordpress.com/ CJKEYS2

BEST.POST.EVER. But also the scariest. I’m not sure what I’ll do if a combo of tall uggs paired with a denim mini and double popped collar waltz down the runway.All held together by a ribbon belt of course. I’m trying to dig up photos now. Let’s see yours, amelia! (andfitch)

OMG I love this! 2001-2005 were my college glory days and OH MAN did I rock every last one of these trends. Cropped polo? CHECK. TIERED MINI SKIRTS IN A WIDE RANGE OF PASTELS?! You KNOW THIS. Satin ANYTHING (especially inappropriate things like cargo pants). Done. Oh man.

Amelia Diamond

so many satin lingerie tops

Linds

So many. Standard “going out” outfit consisted of a denim mini, satin lingerie top (or of course tubs too with built in bra, naturally), chunky platform sandals of some sort. If I was feeling extra fancy I would throw in a fringed belt. So tacky. So on point for a Texas college town. Hottie alert!

Linds

Tube Tops, I mean. Not tubs too. What the hell.

Also, platform leather Reef sandals. Those were huge at my university in the early 2000s.

http://www.ashliwithaneye.com Ashli Pollard

omg. and those loop-de-loop black chokers. even worse if it had rhinestones.

Amelia Diamond

or even BETTER.

http://jiaachacruz.blogspot.com Jia Achacruz

WAT. my puppy’s collar is exactly like that.

kimberly miller

Those are already back in fashion! I just about died when I saw the Jenner girls wearing them, and I’ve seen TONS of teens with them on. Crazy!

Mafalda

My go-to in 2006: Denim mini skirt over cropped leggings and a matching tank top. And never forget: the metallic gold purse.

Amelia Diamond

so. many. denim skirts.

Jess

The sad thing is. Every other female in Holland still wears denim mini skirts. With leggings (preferably white) and Uggs. Or Birkenstocks (and nothing but love for Birks, but not with white leggings and denim mini’s..). I remember one of my English friends being genuinely surprised that women over the age of 40 wear them.

http://www.ashliwithaneye.com Ashli Pollard

THE DENIM SKIRT OVER THE LEGGINGS. omg i forgot about that.

this is literally the 2000s in a nutshell (or would it be a pooka shell?)

isnt it funny how universal this look was?

katiedid13

Add those suede buckle clogs (not sure what they were actually called– my friends and I called them “potato shoes”).

I had a really small friend in middle school who used to wear little boys’ pajama bottoms under her denim skirts.

Cilla

I believe you are talking about Birkenstocks. My sister had three pairs in varying shades of tan.

Betty

“varying shades of tan” lmaoooo. I’m proud to say that I hated those from day 1.

http://alcessa.wordpress.com/ alcessa

I quite understand the sentiment though I don’t remember the 2000s fashionwise because I was simply doing what I’d done before: wearing jeans and tees.
Oh, OK, I do remember havin bought my first low jeans in 2000 and being confused about it … Jep. My first “used” jeans falls into that period as well. Not a fan of any of it now. I want normal height jeans and no “used” effects, thank you (luckily, my favorite organic clothing shop is quite … obliging in this department. Laser designs, organic cotton, normal form and stuff

By highlighting the trend towards borrowing from periods not that past, you also made me dread the time some of the 2010s things will be fashionable again … animal prints mullet skirts/dresses/tops :-((( faces, flowers and landscapes as prints …

Luckily, I am still wearing jeans with cotton tops, mostly

Amelia Diamond

no faces alcessa?!

http://alcessa.wordpress.com/ alcessa

Nope. One of my pet peeves …

Well, apart from owls. I love owls.

Amelia Diamond

IMPORTANT: DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE WHITE PURSE LC CARRIED FOR THE ENTIRE FIRST SEASON OF LAGUNA?

http://goldengilt.blogspot.com/ Jennifer

Yes! So bad haha

http://Medium.com/@hager_emma Emma Hager

Those bags were nasty ass!

katiedid13

FOUL. I had one from Fossil in dark brown leather (because it is more… restrained?).

Lucy

omg omg omg omg YOU READ MY MIND. Had I not noticed this comment I would have posted about the exact thing. I had it in white, then silver AND gold..super heinous.

ee_by_cc

Two things: 1) omg, yes I remember that. Bring back Laguna and their overly plucked eyebrows 2) very happy you chose to deliberately say LC and not Lauren Conrad. Thanks.

Chazie

I was 12 and bought a F21 version of this purse in pink!! I felt so grown up and used that bag till it broke.
When I think of the early aughts, I am also reminded of bad outfits worn by three of Destiny’s children and how I wore matching skirt/shirt combos. I too was obsessed with the low-slung prairie skirts. I still have one in the back of my closet . Geez, everything was low slung. Remember the visible thong-peeking out of jeans trend? #glorydayz

mar

Nicki Minaj is actually sporting the peeking thong in her new video. Oh no! This may be a sign of the times. WE ARE DOOMED.

soniadelvalle

I had a similar one in black… *shudders*

Alma

hahahhaha hilarious! It’s true it was sort of a bad decade! But hun, try being born 1978! That means your parents (and I mean my mum) dressed you on the 80s… and that was horrid!!!!!! And the hairdos! I would research for a pic and send it to you just so you don’t feel so bad about the 2000s! 😛 But yes, lets not do it again! xx, Alma

I couldn’t agree more. As a 90s toddler, I always wish I had been born a little earlier.

Cat Coule

THIS. I’ve been scared of this for a while. It was so terrible. And we should never have to relive the oddly-colored, inappropriately-bright, terribly unflattering clothing of the 2000s. Scully from the X-Files is the only one that gets away unscathed, because she wore black suits with white button-downs. I’d actually be okay if clean, minimal suits came into the spotlight.

Amelia Diamond

hahaha scully. she had a great haircut too

Cat Coule

It really was a great haircut – always wished I could pull that off. I still wish that, actually.

http://goldengilt.blogspot.com/ Jennifer

This is hilarious, my thoughts exactly. I cringe to think of some of my fashion decisions in the 2000’s. You forgot to mention all of the awful highlights and low lights that just made hair look dirty haha.

I’m proud to say by 2005 I was wearing jet black skinny jeans, vans slip ons and band tshirts. That was the emo scene in England. Previous to that it’s all a blur of tammy girl with an awkward transition into river island. Thank eff it’s 2014!

rachxoxo

I spent 04-08 in college, rocking the satin mini dress in every color. I just donated my entire collection last week as I did a major overhaul of my closet and came to terms with the fact that 2008 was the last time I wore them. Let’s not revive it please, thanks for the post!

Quinn Halman

Best-worst case scenario is that the music comes back. We belong together by Mariah Carrey is still my jam and frankly 2014 Avril Lavigne is really not doing it for me

Amelia Diamond

it was a great time for music.

http://adeliberateimagination.wordpress.com/ CJKEYS2

dashboard confessional had the best lyrics to put in AIM profiles.

kimberly miller

Your hair is everywhere……..

dustUP

I was in my late 20’s, early 30’s and wore totally different things than the ones you mentioned. If you were interested in fashion in named decade, you wouldn’t even come close velour bottoms and denim skirts. You guys were young and wore the things your pop idols wore, not your fault.

stephania

This is a theory in fashion history. Anything fashion from 10 years is remembered as awful but 20 years prior is remembered to be amazing. I recall 10 years ago people remembering the 90s fashion as horrid and the 80s as ideal. Give it another 10 years and the 2000’s fashion will be recycled to the 2020’s.

Amelia Diamond

hahah so true

Jelly

Yes! These are the lawz!

Maria

Did anyone else wear mini skirts over jeans or was it just me?

Amelia Diamond

Maybe Leandra

Maria

Man repelling since 2004

plin

Yeah I did. I used to wear a tartan mini skirt over rolled up jeans with boxer boots. That was my 2004 signature look.

ihavenobones

Wasn’t just you.

http://www.kuyeek.com/ Kuyeek

This was absolutely hilarious. It was great looking back but also very terrifying what we permitted all of that.

Oh my god, Charlotte! You have just expressed my feelings over the last seasons and the shaking fear I have come to bear when it comes to what is going to be seen on the streets within the next few seasons.
Maybe a 2000’s revival would suck that much for us because we have been there as the creators and followers and its not yet far away enough to call it nostalgia – rather embarrassement.

Those poetic words were all Amelia’s doing!! My credit is for drawing numbers on that ass!

Amelia Diamond

that ass tho

http://jaguarzinnias.blogspot.com/ Jas

NOOOOO!!!! Too soon. Too damn soon! I am cringing at the very thought of metallic-coated hip huggers and gauchos and trucker hats and asymmetrical everything.

If it is more glam-ealryAughtsMeisel-JLo-Donatella, I may reconsider.

http://curvilyfashion.com/ Curvily NYC

Dear god those flowy gauchos! With the folded down waistband. They were EVERYWHERE at my college. *shudder*

Stacie

FITTED CARDIGANS

Amelia Diamond

and those cropped cardigans that tied under boobs

Stacie

Shrugs, all the cool girls wore them.

Lucy

Confession: I wore one of these in 2009 (3 years too late) to a dinner with my friends. I still have the picture and I still want to barf when I see it.

http://fashioncognoscente.blogspot.com/ Fashion Cognoscente

Ah yes! I’m dreading the imminent comeback of the corset and I’m hoping the peasant top doesn’t reemerge either

mollie blackwood

Thank you for acknowledging that EVERYONE was dressed badly in the early 2000s. I’ll stop retroactively being ashamed of what I wore…. short destroyed denim skirt, spaghetti strap tank, and UGG boots, oh my.

Emilia Petrarca

Confession: my preppy high school made trucker hats and I bought one.

Alexandra Puffer

Thank you for this. I want to vomit everytime I see a pair of Old Navy flip flops. & I was a Hot Topic regular – and even still kind of love my Care Bear tee – but then I see photos of me in sunglassses with square blue lenses and it’s over. Like, I LOVE the writing that went into Gilmore Girls, but it’s so hard to take those characters seriously with the styling that happened.

Throwback to when David and Goliath tees were really really cool. Or was that just me?

Amelia Diamond

yes yes yes

http://caramellattekiss.com/ Georgina

I owned this very t-shirt.

Pia Bergman

Ugh, I remember being sooo stoked when I finally found a neon green C&C tank top at the thrift store for only like, $20! Unfortunately, I still couldn’t compete with the rich girls at my school who wore up to 3 $80 tank tops layered to create a strange rainbow effect over the tops of their extremely low-rise Juicy jeans. LA in the 2000’s was truly the epitome of gross. Although I do sort of miss low slung peasant skirts…

Amelia Diamond

C&C was sooo cool

Jessica

SO interesting. But remember–in the 2000’s every1 thought the *90’s* were the most hideous thing 2 happen to fashion.

For my career may I analyze cycles of re-birth + re-interpretation in fashions??

Wut.

Uh… Tom Ford at Gucci, Phoebe Philo at Chloe, and Dior in the early 2000’s with the pink logo was EVERYTHING. And there was so much more amazingness in the early 2000’s. Come on now.

Wut.

Also: Satin cargo pants with the Gucci bamboo heels >>>

Amelia Diamond

15 year olds didn’t know that though. at that age I thought Chanel designed for Chanel.

Wut

Oh, well fashion in the early 2000’s was more than just what 15 year-olds wore (and i was also 15 in 2000. #memz) And I don’t think teenagers defined the fashion of that time, but I see what you’re saying. I still think there were a lot of good fashion moments back then. :T

Stephanie

It is crazy how decades have repeated itself many times on the runway and like you say, we are running out these decades.

After I was finished being “goth,” I was the girl in the peasant skirt, spaghetti straps, knit bolero. Credit to Seventeen for that gem of an outfit. I was soooo boho.

Jamie

This reminded me of how in season 1 (?) of Sex and the City, Carrie buys these fuzzy feather shoes from D&G. A couple of seasons later, Sam takes her to a lingerie shop where Carrie rejects similar footwear because she doesn’t wear fuzzy shoes.

Fuzzy shoes were so #ephemeral.

Guest

This whole situation.

Amelia Diamond

hahahahahaha YES. tell me you just took that now

Maria

Five years ago we would all be like “oh no, the 90s are too terrible a decade to be fashionable again !”. And ten years ago we were like “The eighties style was so BAD, ewww NEVER AGAIN”…
So now I refuse to say things like that!!

Of course today I want to burn the pictures of me in the 2000s, but I guess it will change. Fashion is cyclical; our perception of clothes evolves slowly but radically. Let’s consider jeans. In my life (I was born in 1992), since I started to participate in my dressing choices, I started with bootcut, and skinny jeans were the most horrific thing I could think of. And now skinny jeans are my favorite…
Same thing with, I dunno, leggings. I wore them as a little girl in the 90s, then I thought it was the worst thing in the world, and now I LOVE leggings.

So I refuse to say that “2000s were ugly”! The media will slowly make our vision change and make us consider as “cool” things that we used to love and then used to hate. There is a good, good probability that in five years we all want to look like 2003. With flare low-rise jeans and a big wide belt and a cropped top and Buffalo shoes. And superpositions of T-shirts. And skirts or dresses over pants. By the way there are already skirts over pants on the runways and even on this blog!

Ana Lu Garro

A few years ago I used to think that the 90´s were the ugliest of all
decades in regards to fashion however you are right on this. I remember
wearing flared jeans with ugly ass shoes and on top of that, a skater
shirt on top of another shirt so that it would look “cool”. There were
so many wrong things going on in the 2000´s fashion. Thank you for
putting all that together and let´s convince people not to bring that
idea up again.

While I was only born in 94′ my mother still managed to dress me horribly throughout the 2000’s, at one point I had a purple shag rug mini skirt.

morgs

Just remembering this stuff embarrasses me. My list includes:
– those weird cropped bolero sweaters
– conversely, those awful “duster” sweaters that went down just past the knees with just a tie at the waist to fasten them (essentially sweater robes)
– the colorful mesh mule shoes with sequins and flowers
– logos on everything
– I may or may not have bought a Lacoste polo from the children’s section because it was way cheaper (it was wayyy too boxy – not flattering)
– I went through a baaad Holister phase. Awful. (The irony that Hollister is a small agricultural town near San Jose and is no way related to the beach bum image the clothing store was/is trying to sell was lost on me).

http://bwallover.blogspot.com Vanessa Buttino

I was born in ’82 and I couldn’t agree more with this post! I dressed myself in both the 90s and the 2000s and I can definitely attest to the 2000s being godawful in terms of clothing and accessories.

All Day She Plays

Dusters.

http://ajwearsclothes.com/ ajwearsclothes

When I think of the 2k’s I always see the popular girls from Never Been Kissed in my head. SO GOOD. I went through a severe Avril Lavigne stage where every skirt I wore was pleated and plaid, with knee socks and chucks and usually a tie. Hilarious.

txc84

Completely agree that the clothes were bad, but I just wanted to point out that the 2000s does have a cool name. the decade is called the aughties or the aughts.

Sasha

What about the girls who went on tropical vacation overwritten break and came back with their hair half braided, with beads on the ends? Good Lord. And hair wraps, and those horrifying half bandana things with ties to go under your otherwise perfectly straight hair..

Sasha

Over winter*

Hallie

I sewed heart patches in contrasting colors onto between 5-7 brightly colored cable knit sweaters and then wore said sweaters over contrasting colored polos with the collar unpopped. everyday.

starryhye

OH GAWD! I felt like such hot sh– walking around in my Juicy sweats that had “juicy” blazoned across the butt. Ribbon belt? check. Cropped polo? check. Cargo capris? check… So glad social media didn’t exist then like it does today! Can I get an AMEN!?!

The upside is that I had just graduated college in ’03 and had to wear “real clothes” for my real job. Never mind that it only fueled the purchase of the above mentioned items 😛

http://www.cocoandcocoa.com/ Lola Byatt

Gok Wan is still doing the belt thing :/

LoriRaMa

Bubblegum pants. In every color. Worn with a tube top, those platform slides with the thick black elastic band, and tiny butterfly clips in each twisted row of hair. That was my club gear, despite the fact dancing to awful electronic music made those pants stick to my legs and I could barely pull them down to pee. At that time, my entire wardrobe was made of synthetic materials.

The 2000s give me nightmares. I have an actual physical reaction of disgust when I think of the things I was wearing in the 2000s. It’s like the style decade where there was a complete absence of style. Maybe it was 9/11 that had us swearing that velour tracksuits were not just appropriate off the couch and out of the house, but TRENDY!

This is such an entertaining article. I am always pleasantly surprised with the amount of information-laid sarcasm that makes me giggle softly and nod unconsciously in agreement with your well argued opinions. Thank you for sharing your beautiful mind with us, and for saying what we could not even lay a finger to saying for ourselves, but were all feeling. Your’s Truly,

ShanIsRad

Amelia, are we the same person? I totally bought “bondage pants” at Torrid (when it was a plus-size offshoot of Hot Topic), and combined those with my rubber bracelets, and band tees, haha. I really hope the 2000s doesn’t come back, that was just a rough decade. Capri-length leggings/tights with lace trim, anyone? I actually wore a bright blue pair with a shimmery black skirt, and a Fall Out Boy shirt to one of their concerts in 07, hahaha. I am so glad I only have pictures of me from the waist-up from that night (the only thing that hasn’t changed is that I still go to FOB shows).

One of my ballet costumes in 07 actually had a tiered skirt, but it is was one of my favorite costumes, it looked beautiful on stage.

I wore up or hanging down depending on how I was feeling and accompanied this with a red and white purse from Spencer’s that was shaped like a chinese food takeout box. You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t killing the game.

Lawd thank you for the deliverance from that phase and the name plate belts, polo and cami combos and pointy toe kitten heels of the time.

http://blog.oanacazan.com/ Oana Cazan

I mean I was technically still being dressed/ influenced by my parents for clothing choices for the most part of the 2000s but I still remember purposely layering my tank tops all the time…oh the shuddering at the past…

Nadine

knee length jeans and pumps with socks…

ihavenobones

I do kinda miss my JNCOs, tbh. :/

I kept ALL of my “candy” and still wear it from time to time. But now rave culture is back like it never left and it’s… uncomfortable for me, to say the least. Cringe.

tonyhost

I love to read this type of material Good and
attractive information I take from it..Thank you for posting such a good
article.

Some designer’s gonna put some extra low slung jeans on Aymeline Valade and it’s gonna look perfect. Isabel Marant’s going to make trucker hats. All these models are going to get layers and it’ll be fresh and versatile and we’ll all overdose on Viviscal trying to grow out our blunt bobs.

http://thedailyluxe.blogspot.com/ Rachel

Oh lord gypsy skirts and three tiered minis- vile! Never want to see those in fashion again!

IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING! Have you seen the Moschino s/s 2015 stuff?? It’s like Elle Woods and Barbie had a horrible baby. I’m so scared…

mazzimademe

Believe it or not, some people are saying butterfly clips are making a comeback?!

soniadelvalle

I was very Michelle Branch-oriented: sleeveless graphic tees, super low rise flared jeans or denim minis with skeaners. And obviously, bracelets with spikes and studs.

http://pinenoir.com/ Bianca Yvonne

I’ve been thinking this same thing for the last couple months. If we’ve already appropriated 90’s fashion what the hell is next, and please please tell me it won’t be juicy track suits, weirdly washed jeans and tube tops. No one looked good then. I blame The Simple Life. If Nicole Richie can realize the error of her ways, we all should be able to.

But what if it happens? I mean people are into joggers / sweatpants. They’re only a fabric change away from being what we dread.

Rachael Forster

I agree that I do not want to end up in the 00’s but technically, designers show collections but WE have the power to choose to wear it. If all of us just decide not to go there and keep it out of our street style then the design won’t be picked up. It can only be a trend if it is, in fact, trending. We actually have a lot of power as the consumer.

Lilly

No one is forcing you to dress a certain way – just because Miuccia declares something fashion doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

simon

The “2000s” do have a name. That period is commonly referred to as the “aughts”.